Program May Increase Adolescents’ Mental Well-Being.

HealthDay (9/11, Preidt) reports that, according to a study published Sept. 10 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “when high school students learn how their thinking affects their well-being, they may boost their grades and reduce their risk of obesity, severe depression and substance use.” In a study of 800 high school students, half of whom were randomized to a control group and the other half to a “program based on the concepts of so-called cognitive behavioral therapy, with an emphasis on skills building,” researchers found that the teens assigned to the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment Program “were less likely to be overweight, had better social behaviors, higher health class grades, lower levels of depression and drank less alcohol.”